In the meat industry, it is necessary to package or wrap bulk meat cuts to prevent drying, to prevent or minimize exposure to contamination, and to prevent exposure to air and to retain meat fluids. A frequent problem is the storage or shipment of bone-in meat cuts containing exposed sharp edges of bone that contact the sheet or material used to cover the meat.
Bone-in meat cuts frequently have exposed bone portions that may be sharp enough to cut through known wrapping materials, thereby degrading the wrap effectiveness. It is therefore known practice to apply a plastic meat plug or individual bone cover directly to exposed bone surfaces prior to application of a separate meat wrap, vacuum bag, or shrink fit bag. The bone plugs are commonly a synthetic resin material, and the bone covers are commonly a woven cloth. Many of the known bone covers are made of flexible material to further reduce the risk of puncturing or abrading the meat wrapping material by friction with the bone cover. This practice therefore requires the time and expense of storing and applying the bone covers as an independent step in the meat wrapping process, thereby incurring an undesirable increased cost to the process.
It is also a known practice to use a thicker walled bag or shrink wrap to accommodate sharp boned meat products.
There is a continuing need for a wrap product that minimizes puncture by sharp items such as bone present in bulk or bone-in meat products during transportation, storage, and during sales presentation, while eliminating the need for a separate bone cover. Desirably, the wrap product can be used with a variety of meats and can be used on meat items having irregular shapes.